Retribution for City, Rogue Run Ragged
Time: 1pm, January 24th, 2010
Venue: Bai Ling Bridge Riverside Park
By Michael Christie
The last time City and Rogue met, in November, produced an upset and the only loss City have suffered this season. The Rogue were without Canadian Andy, scorer of a spectacular goal in the earlier game, but still assembled a good, determined side. For their part, the Taipei City management team of Ross and Dan urged every every player to maximize their effort levels, and only then would football skill and know-how decide the result. The starting line-up was Alex Moga in goal; Yunusa Njie, Matt Wharton, Tim Murphy and Mamadi Colley at the back; Steve Reymond and Ed Cartee on the flanks with Mike O’Gorman and Ebrima Njie in centre midfield; and the in-form strike partnership of Dawda and Dan (DAD).
The first five minutes were all City. Looking strong and hungry, City put pressure on the Rogue goal. There were good short passes and quick balls to the flanks in equal measure. City were winning all the tackles, too. Still, something clicked for Rogue after five minutes and they proceeded to dominate the next five minutes. They had three or four strong attacks in as many minutes. Undoubtedly the closest they came was when Ian Edwards, cutting in from the left, contained but not muzzled by the shadowing Matt Warton, laid on an inviting ball for Russell Curtis to crack against the bar. The question at this stage was would this become a game of two equally matched teams both attacking with penetration? Unfortunately for Rogue and impartial spectators, this was as good as it got. City started dictating the pace again and after another five minutes Rogue were panting running after the ball, a pattern that would continue to the end of the match.
Calvertn opened the scoring with a near post header from a corner flighted by Reymond after twenty minutes. Then, on twenty-five minutes Calvert returned the favour, laying on a square ball for the incoming Reymond to finish clinically. Not long after that, again through a combination of strength and astute positioning, Calvert was able to lay on another square ball, this time for Dawda to finish coolly with his left foot. All this time the defence and midfield were functioning very well, keeping the ball, making very few mistakes and displaying a considerable amount of flair in some tight situations. Rogue were running hard, determined not to make the game easy for City. Still, they had to contend with an attack of DAD, Cartee, Reymond, O’Gorman and Ebrima all in good form, not to mention City’s defenders, all capable of using the ball well. Not surprisingly, Rogue were tired.
At half-time, two of the best performers of the first half, brothers Ebrima and Yunusa Njie, made way for Michael Christie and Alex Daly respectively. Alex Daly surprised a number of people with his skill and dribbling close to the Rogue box. Christie did not make an impact until a Rogue defender crashed into him! Christie was winded and saw stars, but the Rogue man came off worse because his head smacked right in the middle of Christie’s sternum. Luckily, neither player was seriously hurt.
Calvert made it 4-0 to City with a turn and powerful low shot past the Rogue keeper halfway through the second half. By this time, City were benefitting from their higher fitness levels. Apart from a few good moves involving Brian McGuinness, Gerry McNally, Russell Curtis and Carl Blundon, Rogue were spent as a cohesive force. City were simply enjoying being on top. The biggest scare City had at this time was a ball kicked with force into Mike OG’s private parts, inadvertently of course. The pain was obviously real, but O’Gorman ran it off to complete another excellent performance for Taipei City. Near the end of the game, Calvert took his hat-trick with an overhead flicked volley from a Reymond cross. This was the goal of the game. Possibly City could have scored more, but the new Rogue goalkeeper made some good saves and the Rogue defence played with passion.
In the end, City played a good game with discipline and control. Three points secured.
Taipei City 5, Rogue 0
Threadbare Blues have enough for Bulien
Time: 10am, January 17th, 2010
Venue: Bai Ling Bridge Riverside Park
By John Phillips
An understrength Taipei City side overcame a spirited performance by Bulien to maintain their challenge for a second BML crown. In the end the scoreline flattered Bulien who scored their second goal with the final kick of the game and never looked likely to upset a well-drilled City side.
Missing regular starters Calvert, Ramirez, Christie, Conlon, the Njie trio and both goalkeepers through a mixture of injury, suspension and other commitments, City shuffled their pack but still had enough firepower to see off a Bulien team that worked hard but rarely threatened from open play. With defender Wharton taking responsibility between the sticks, City brought in Mamadi Colley to fill in at left back in a new look four-man defence, while Oliver Harley returned for a rare outing in midfield.
City dominated the opening exchanges but had to wait until after the half hour to open the scoring. Good work by Denser sent wing back Cartee through on goal and the American kept his composure to slot the ball neatly past the keeper.
Following the goal, City continued to create chances, but the game’s moment of controversy came at the other end. A speculative ball by the Bulien midfield appeared to find their striker a meter or so offside, but the linesman’s flag stayed down as the striker bore down on goal. The decision was immaterial as the striker fluffed the chance but City’s players and management were incensed and made vocal remonstrations.
Leading 1-0 at the break, Daly made way for Pangborn in defence leaving City with no cover on the bench. Bulien brought on Wang to strengthen their forward line, and the rotund striker showed some good touches in the opening exchanges. But it was City who doubled their lead on 50 minutes with Dawda Fatty popping up with a poacher’s goal from inside the penalty box.
And by the 55th minute City extended their lead to three goals with a finely worked goal. O’Gorman’s through ball found Denser in an offside position but the young German smartly let the ball run through to Cartee who had advanced down the left wing. He swung in a pinpoint cross to the far post for Steve Reymond to nod home a rare headed goal.
The game swung decisively in City’s favour when a seemingly innocuous challenge on Pangborn resulted in a straight red card for a Bulien midfielder. But the red card seemed to galvanise Bulien, as the ten men upped their game in search of a consolation. They were duly rewarded when a corner was played in low to the top of the box. Bulien reacted quickest and in the resulting melee, the ball was poked home past a helpless Wharton.
Any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when Dawda Fatty got his second of the game with a tidy finish to make it 4-1. And with the clock running down and the victory safe, all that was left was for Bulien to grab a consolation from a scrappy corner, but it was too little too late and City got the win that keeps their title challenge on track.
Taipei City 4, Bulien 2
City beat Fritz to go Top
Time: 7pm, January 9th, 2010
Venue: Bai Ling Bridge Riverside Park
By Alice Davis and Michael Christie
With lashings of rain for a week beforehand, some doubted if the game would go ahead. But the skies cleared on Friday afternoon, so it was surprisingly warm and dry when the top two teams of the BML took to the field at 7pm on Saturday evening. The preparations were good by all the City players, Dan and Ross gave a serious team talk before the game which was just what everybody needed. The starting line-up was Dale Neal in goal; a back four of John Philips, Tim Murphy, Yunusa Njie and Matt Wharton; Ed Cartee and Ross Conlon on the left and right flanks, with Mike O’Gorman and Ebrima Njie in centre midfield; and, Dan Calvert and Dawda Fatty up front. The new, experimental formation wasn’t really tested last weekend. Nevertheless, the management stuck to their strategy of providing more cover in defensive positions and nicking a goal at the other end rather than being drawn into a straight shootout with Fritz.
From the moment the game kicked off it was evident that both sides meant business, as did the referee who had awarded Ebrima a yellow card for a crunching tackle on the opposition before the first 60 seconds were up. Fritz looked commanding at first, but City didn’t lose spirit. Early shots from Dawda and Calvert helped the Blues reinforce a confidence they needn’t feel guilty of showing, and they had taken the reins from the champions by the end of the first ten minutes. Fritz, however, are not easy to tame, and the sides settled into a lively game at tempo, both looking for the attacking advantage.
Fritz took the first corner of the game, which was well-handled by City’s defence, but they kept possession and Fritz’s 18 tried his luck as he shot just over the bar. City persistently worked away at the opposition as Fritz tried to build up momentum. Their persistence prevented Fritz from taking the initiative and, apart from an edgy moment when a Fritz free kick went close at the 20-minute mark, City can be proud they looked like a strong, calm, organized team even under pressure.
The result of this was a string of chances, with almost everyone on the City side being able to have a go at goal. Dawda and Calvert kept up the pressure, and a long, low shot from Cartee skimmed the woodwork. But with nothing yet to show for their perseverance, frustrations were becoming visible as halftime grew nearer. As Calvert and Conlon tried to keep City from losing their calm, a couple of great saves from Dale ensured City hadn’t conceded as they walked off the pitch at 45 minutes. But they hadn’t scored, either.
At halftime, Alex Ramirez replaced Conlon on the left wing, but the game re-started mirroring the first half, this time with a Fritz player notching up a yellow card for a tackle on Ebrima in the first minute. City kept looking to score, and though the second half saw fewer shots than the first, play remained organized and the defence and midfield kept working hard to create the canvas for a goal.
An interesting piece of refereeing saw a Fritz player booked for shirt-tugging incident, but then, as if to balance out the punishment, the free kick was awarded to Fritz. As the referee grew more myopic the game became more heated. A foul near the City goal was so blatant everyone looked to the ref for the whistle. The whistle failed to sound though, and Dale was lucky Fritz did not manage to capitalize on his lull in concentration. He soon made up for the error as he was forced into making a couple of saves. At this stage Michael Christie replaced Ebrima who had worked tirelessly covering ground in the midfield all day.
At around 20 minutes, City finally reaped the rewards they had been working so hard for with a goal. The prolific Calvert guided a fine header into the Fritz net from a long speculative cross. Ten minutes later, Dawda and Calvert went close, but it was Ramirez who knocked in Fritz’s third failed attempt to clear the box to sew up what was certainly a deserved victory. Mamadi Colley replaced Calvert in the final minutes giving the Fritz defence more fresh legs to worry about. Solid teamwork was the backbone of this display, and all City’s players ought to congratulate themselves on a motivated, confident performance that had plenty of moments magic. A well-earned three points puts City two points ahead of their skilled opponents.
The defence held strong and the midfield always provided the cover to stifle the Fritz forwards. The spaces were unusually restricted so both teams had to be precise with their passing in all areas of the park. Eventually, Taipei City showed more dynamism and had more of the element of surprise going forward. Taipei City were the better team on the night. With a performance like that, some people were asking how we lost to Rogue earlier in the season. The answer is Rogue were the better team on the day, a lesson in preparation that City need to take into every game they play.
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